Oregon: “Multnomah County Library to Hire Security Manager in Response to Rising Rate of Incidents”

The Multnomah County Library, with its mission to be a haven for everyone, for years has resisted following other urban libraries in ramping up security. But when windows at downtown Portland’s Central Library are broken twice in a single week, something has to change.

That’s the story Central Library director Dave Ratliff told this week , when he asked the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners for permission to hire a safety and security manager for the library system.

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The library system’s current security protocols rely on a set of behavior rules in place for all patrons. Staff have the authority to ban people from using the library if they break the rules. A violation can constitute anything from being disruptive, to engaging in illegal behavior or being violent. Ratliff said violations are becoming more frequent, and more severe.

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Gary Price (gprice@mediasourceinc.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. Before launching INFOdocket, Price and Shirl Kennedy were the founders and senior editors at ResourceShelf and DocuTicker for 10 years. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com, and is currently a contributing editor at Search Engine Land.